Structure

The short story “The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde has a typical fairy-tale structure. Fairy-tales are usually stories for children, involving imaginary and fantastic events and beings. The events are presented chronologically and take place over the course of several years. 

The story’s beginning introduces readers to the fairy-tale setting: “Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden” (p. 1, ll. 1-2). A flashback mentions the Giant visiting the Cornish ogre for the past seven years (p. 1, ll. 9-12). 

The typical fairy-tale structure usually involves a hero performing one or several tasks, evolving in the process, and ending up being rewarded. The Giant is selfish in the beginning (p...